Putin’s early September suggestion that a UN peacekeeping force be sent to the Donbass region triggered a skeptical reaction from the Western block

To a certain degree, the Kremlin’s acceptance of the deployment of UN peacekeepers signifies a diplomatic victory of the West.

Up until now, Russia has been persistently refusing similar proposals from Germany, France, the United States and Ukraine, insisting that peace in eastern Ukraine could be based solely upon Minsk agreement.

Now that Putin has taken a sudden U-turn regarding his former position, he…